Five Hundred and Fifty-Nine: Just This Year

3-0 behind, countless teams want to break the "curse" that they must be out of the game if they are 3-0 behind. But one thing these teams have in common is that they ultimately failed.

The Clippers' players knew that, so they got very discouraged after the game.

At the press conference after the game, the Grizzlies were lively and lively, while the Clippers, Vinnie Denagro, who had completely given up resistance, bluntly said in front of everyone that the Clippers would manage In his angry words, "We've lost this season, it's over, it's over."

The team is doomed to lose, the fans just need to be clear in their hearts. But as a head coach directly admit defeat, it is indeed a bit inappropriate. It can only be said that Denagro has been completely defeated. Moreover, he also knows that he is already in the prestige position, and he doesn't care what the management thinks of him at all.

De Nagro’s remarks quickly entered the ears of the Clippers players. There is no doubt that his remarks became the last straw that crushed the Clippers.

The day after the game, Link was penalized again. And the league officially announced that if Link has any more extreme and inappropriate actions, it will take measures to suspend the game.

However, everyone knew that Link would not be fooled. On the basketball court, he is still the most dangerous killer.

Sure enough, a day later, the Grizzlies won this crucial battle with the main players only playing for half of the quarter.

At this time, the Clippers have no intention of fighting, and they are losing anyway, so why bother? As a result, the Grizzlies trailed by 32 points at halftime... In the end, the Grizzlies' main force was able to rest early.

, which is the biggest point difference between the two sides since the start of the series. When Denagro and Paul have both given up, the Clippers really have no fighting ability.

At the beginning, when the Clippers and Grizzlies met in the Western Conference semifinals, they never imagined that they would end up being swept out!

Paul was originally full of confidence. He thought that the Clippers had improved a lot after the baptism of the first round, and they were enough to compete with the Grizzlies.

But as it turns out, he still thinks the Grizzlies too simply. A team that can win 70 games in the regular season is no joke.

"4-0, the Memphis Grizzlies swept the Los Angeles Clippers to become the first team in the league to advance to the conference finals! God, almost every series in the Western Conference is difficult to solve. But the Memphis Grizzlies used In such a crazy way, they defeated their old enemy." Barkley looked at the Grizzlies players on the court who were high-fives each other. So far, their road to the championship has gone very smoothly!

The day after the series ended, Clippers officials conveniently announced that they had waived Vinnie De Nagro. Although the arrival of this coach has transformed the Clippers from a fish-belly team into a playoff-level team, there is no doubt that the Clippers’ results in the second round of the playoffs still did not meet the management’s expectations. They asked Paul to team up with Griffin, not for the second round.

In addition, De Nagro's behavior of admitting defeat in front of the media has touched the bottom line of the management. As a manager, you can lose, but you can't give in before you even play. If even the head coach concedes defeat, what other player would be willing to fight for you?

Watching the news of Denagro's dismissal in the training hall, Link couldn't help shaking his head. While De Nagro's playoff performance was really bad, he was the one who kept the Clippers on track.

But the league is so cruel, no matter how great your past achievements, the team will dump you when they say they dump you. This is the NBA, a business field where victory trumps everything.

But now the Grizzlies don't have so much time and energy to sympathize with Denagro, although the experience of sweeping the opponent 4-0 in two consecutive rounds has made the Grizzlies very strong in their hearts. But everyone knows it's not over yet.

It can even be said that everything has not really started yet.

The next opponent, no matter who advances the Spurs or the Thunder,

Not hard bones to chew on. Not to mention, the Miami Heat, who won the MVP this year.

So even if they won the Clippers, on the training ground, the Grizzlies players did not let up at all. They all know that they want more than that.

At this point, the team's training today has entered the stage of various special exercises. Each player's training program at this stage is different, some may be practicing shooting, and some may be laying up in practice confrontation. As for Jimmy Butler, his training program is still a solid defense.

At the start of the season, members of the Grizzlies coaching staff wanted Butler to practice shooting. After all, as a perimeter player, if there is no shooting, the limitations will be very large.

Then after half the season, the Grizzlies shooting coach exclaimed that Butler was the most talented player he had ever met. Because of the speed of his improvement in shooting, it is simply amazing!

Of course, this is naturally accompanied by the big brother Tony Allen.

Last season, Jimmy Butler had almost no 3-point range. He couldn't adapt to the NBA's 3-point line and shot a miserable 18.2 percent from 3-point range. But this season, thanks to the efforts of his shooting coach and Butler, his three-point percentage has risen to a full 20 percent.

Although the number of shots is small, but at least it is sure.

For Butler, who does not need to be the main attacker, he can have such progress beyond the management's expectations. Therefore, since then, Butler's training focus has returned to defense.

So defensive training has become a daily compulsory course for Jimmy Butler. With Tony Allen as a seasoned teacher and Link as a strong sparring opponent, Butler's improvement in defense is obvious.

Under the supervision of the trainer, Jimmy Butler and Link's heads-up "show" began again. Link didn't treat Butler politely because it was training. Relaxing on the training ground would be irresponsible for the game. This is what Link learned when he was in the G League. And he has followed this principle throughout his career.

Therefore, the confrontation between the two on the training ground is real. Link faced Butler with the ball, suddenly turned around, and raised his elbow secretly during the turn. Of course, Link knew the strength, and his elbow wouldn't really hurt Butler's health, but it was enough to make the guy's chest feel stuffy.

After being elbowed, Butler seemed to let go. So Link seized the opportunity and took a big step to hang the frame with both hands! The rim made a loud noise and even caught the eyes of everyone else on the practice court.

"You're still too weak! If it's Kevin Durant or LeBron James who just elbowed you, you can't expect them to be as gentle as me! Western Finals and Finals, it's who is more willing to die! After the dunk, Link yelled at Butler. Although he only entered the league a year earlier than Butler, Link really entered the role of a strict teacher.

Seeing this scene, Tony Allen only felt fortunate. Since Jimmy Butler officially entered the rotation this season and can practice with everyone, the pressure on him has been reduced a lot. Otherwise, just now, Mr. Tony estimated that he was the one who was elbowed.

"Damn, don't be complacent about Link. Come again, I'm going to overturn you this time!" Jimmy Butler rubbed his chest and responded without showing weakness. The bickering between these two guys on the basketball court is a thing of the past.

The first time the two yelled at each other really startled everyone, and people thought the two guys were really at odds. But then, everyone found out that the two guys yelled at each other almost every time they practiced. But once the training was over, the relationship between the two was too good. Over time, you get used to it.

Link didn't want to be pretentious, but he knew that being fierce against Butler on the training ground was to make him fierce against others in the game.

In the next two rounds of the series, if it really faces Durant and James, then Link needs Jimmy Butler to also stand up and play a role. Those two guys are not something that Iguodala or Tony Allen can deal with alone, everyone must work together!

In the next practice, Link gave Butler another iron shoulder. But this time, Butler did not flinch, but endured the pain and continued to push up, actively confronting Link, causing Link to finally miss a layup!

During the confrontation with Butler, Link's center of gravity was unstable, and he fell to the ground in a state of confusion. But there was an excited smile on his face.

This kind of defense is probably enough to make Durant and James suffer too.

"That's right, Jimmy, that's what defense is! Basketball is a muscle-and-muscle sport, and you shouldn't give in an inch. After two rounds of the series, you should be as tough as you were, good job, man!"

"Cut, be careful with yourself. If I hurt you, I can't be responsible. When the time comes, who will lead us to win the game." Butler said coldly, but he still stretched out his hand and put the fallen on the ground. Link pulled up.

Seeing that scene on the training ground, everyone couldn't help but laugh. The Grizzlies are better because they have players on the team who are willing to help others improve.

Think about how much Link has learned from the old players before. Tony Allen, Randolph, Iguodala and even Shane... Without them, Link would not be the Link he is now.

And Link, at this time, handed over what he had learned to Jimmy Butler.

Maybe that's why Link is more of a leader. Not only does he make himself better, he makes his teammates better.

Seeing that Butler had been abused and couldn't take care of himself before, and now he can turn Link to the ground, everyone looked forward to it.

"Okay, next! Tobias, it's your turn, don't think you can be lazy today!" After training with Jimmy Butler, Link hooked his finger at Tobias Harris again.

Everyone immediately jeered, and Harris stood up holding his forehead. I thought I just swept the Clippers, and I could escape today. As a result, Link is still very strict with everyone.

Watching the young players gradually grow up and the old players still maintaining their level, Robert Pera, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office and looking into the training ground, was all excited.

Come on in the Western Finals, the Grizzlies can't wait to advance to the next round!

Out West, this year!